Pussy Riot punk band member Maria Alyokhina, serving two years for a 'punk prayer' at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, at the Avtozavodsky District Court in Nizhny Novgorod hearing her motion to mitigate penalty (RIA Novosti / Oleg Zoloto) / RIA Novosti

Russia’s lower house of parliament has given a third reading to the amnesty bill, which means jailed members of Pussy Riot punk band may be freed before the New Year and charges against arrested Greenpeace activists are also to be dropped.

Alex (UK) "TBH, I'm feeling strange. A lot of relief to be
going home, though we don't know when. It's a bit emotional,
what a journey!" 1/2

State Duma deputies on Wednesday unanimously supported the
amnesty legislation submitted by President Vladimir Putin earlier
this month to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the country’s
Constitution. The legislation could come into force as early as
this week, after it is officially published.

Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, who are
both subject to the amnesty, may be released from prison by New
Year’s Eve, their lawyer Irina Khrunova told journalists.

“As a matter of fact, the situation entirely depends on
whether the administrations of their penal colonies want their
soonest release, but I think they would not like to procrastinate
the release process for the two girls,” she said, as cited
by Itar-Tass.

Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina are serving two-year jail terms for
hooliganism for their protest action, called a “punk prayer,” in
Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral in February 2012. The band’s
third convicted member, Yeakterina Samutsevich, who received a
suspended sentence, is also subject to the amnesty bill, the
lawyer said.

Amnesty for Arctic 30

With the approval of the amnesty bill, the 30 members of the
Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise crew who were detained in September
after staging a protest at Gazprom’s Prirazlomnaya oil rig in the
Barents Sea will also be finally able to go home.

The activists are currently on bail and have been awaiting trial
in Russia.

Initially, the activists – who are nationals of 18 different
countries – were detained on piracy charges, which meant they
could face up to 15 years in jail. However, investigators later
reduced the charges to hooliganism.

The arrest of the so-called ‘Arctic 30’ stirred bitter criticism
from various rights organizations. Greenpeace also organized
protests across the globe, demanding that the Arctic Sunrise
crewmembers – 28 environmentalists and two journalists – be
freed.

One of the activists, Ana Paula Maciel from Brazil, said she was
“relieved” at the news, but “not celebrating.”

“I spent two months in jail for a crime I didn’t commit and
faced criminal charges that were nothing less than absurd,”
Greenpeace’s website reported her as saying. “Right now my
thoughts are with our Russian colleagues. If they accept this
amnesty, they will have criminal records in the country where
they live, and all for something they didn’t do.”

President Vladimir Putin, commenting earlier on Greenpeace’s
protest, said their actions threatened the lives of those who
worked on the Prirazlomnaya oil rig.

“When [somebody] is climbing on the platform [they] are
creating an emergency situation, [and] the operator [of the rig]
could have made more than one error. They are distracted from the
ongoing work. Among other things, there were divers underwater
and their lives were in danger,” he said.

Bolotnaya protest prisoners

The amnesty also covers several opposition activists facing
charges following last year’s protest on Bolotnaya Square in
Moscow against alleged violations during parliamentary and
presidential elections. The rally resulted in violent clashes
between protesters and police.

Charges against nine protesters – who are accused of taking part
in mass unrest, or calling for it – may soon be dropped.
Protesters who attacked police will not be included in the
amnesty, however.

The amnesty also does not cover the alleged organizers of the
mass unrest on May 6, 2012:Left Front movement leader Sergey
Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev.

Udaltsov is currently under house arrest and may face up to 10 years
behind bars. Razvozzhayev is in custody and may also spend up to
a decade in prison. Court hearings into the case will begin
December 26.

Criminal proceedings against 28 people were launched in the
aftermath of a rally on Bolotnaya Square a day before Putin’s
inauguration as president. Seventeen of the suspects are in
detention, while two are on the wanted list. In November 2012,
one the rioters – Maksim Luzyanin – was sentenced to 4 1/2 years
behind bars.

According to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, 82 police
officers were injured as a result of the Bolotnaya clashes, and
the total damage to property has been estimated at over 28
million rubles ($900,000).

In total, about 25,000 people will be eligible for release or
exemption from criminal liability.